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Ascending The Corporate Ladder

Treasury & Risk’s 2012 picks of outstanding corporate finance executives under the age of 40

The challenges facing corporations seem to grow constantly, whether it’s uncertainty created by the European debt crisis, waves of regulatory changes in the U.S. and overseas, or emerging risks such as cyber criminals targeting intellectual property and natural disasters disrupting extended supply chains. Fortunately, corporations keep enlisting new recruits to help them deal with those challenges. This list is an attempt to highlight some of the promising younger executives in corporate finance, treasury and risk management departments. It reflects suggestions from subscribers and treasury and finance professionals. These executives, whose ages range from 31 to 39, already have an impressive list of accomplishments to their credit and no doubt will rack up many more in the years to come.

Continue to the following pages for our profiles...

Martha Bailey 38 VP, finance & corporate controller Kennametal Bailey implemented global standard accounting policies at the $2.7 billion provider of tools, equipment and engineering services, benefiting its P&L, and provided acquisition and integration support for a $380 million transaction. Earlier, she served as controller for the company’s metalworking solutions and services group. Prior to joining Kennametal in 2005, Bailey worked at Deloitte & Touche. She has a B.S. in business administration from Duquesne University.

David Calabria 38 Assistant treasurer & VP Avis Budget Group Calabria led the creation and implementation of an international treasury clearinghouse that allows the $7 billion car rental company to move cash in a tax-efficient manner among its overseas units. He’s also instrumental in securing financing for the company’s fleet in various countries. Prior to joining Avis, he worked at JPMorgan Chase and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Calabria has a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.

Hui-Chien Chang 34 Director of portfolio management Google Chang has led many projects related to Google’s rapidly growing investment program, including a project to hedge the FX risk associated with holdings of sovereign securities and the implementation of several portfolio management systems. She has a B.A. in statistics from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan, an M.S. in statistics and operational research from NYU Stern School of Business and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington.

Christopher Chapman 38 VP, global finance Diebold As vice president of global finance for the $2.8 billion maker of banking and security systems, Chapman has financial oversight of Diebold’s global operations, its global supply chain and global financial planning and analysis. Since joining Diebold in 1996, he has served in various finance positions, including controller for international operations. Chapman has a B.S.B.A. in finance and an M.B.A. in international business from the University of Akron.

Jonathan Cowan 34 National manager, rate desk & derivatives Toyota Financial Services Cowan manages Toyota Financial’s structured finance program and a portfolio of more than $90 billion in derivatives it uses to hedge interest-rate and currency risk. He successfully implemented a new collateral program that reduced Toyota Financial’s counterparty credit risk by more than $1.3 billion. Cowan has a B.S. in economics and computer science from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the USC Marshall School of Business.

Andrew Finkelstein 35 Executive director of finance, services division Dell Finkelstein led the benchmarking and conversion to support a new “line of business” model within Dell’s $8.3 billion services division. He joined Dell in 2009 when it acquired Perot Systems, and was involved in integrating that acquisition. He had worked at Perot Systems for nine years. Finkelstein has a B.S. in economics and finance from the University of Texas and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University.

Jeffrey Hackman 34 Chief accounting officer & VP Kforce Hackman joined Kforce, a $1 billion staffing firm, in 2007, and served as its SEC reporting director before being named to his current position in 2009. He has been actively involved in several of the company’s acquisitions and divestitures. Earlier, Hackman worked at Grant Thornton and Arthur Andersen. He has a B.S. in accounting and an master’s of accountancy from the University of South Florida.

Tahreem Kampton 36 Senior director, FX, commodities & global cash management Microsoft At $73.7 billion Microsoft, Kampton leads treasury’s efforts to steward the company’s roughly $70 billion in investment assets and hedge financial risks for its overseas revenue of about $20 billion. Since joining Microsoft in 1999, Kampton has taken on tasks such as managing the equity portfolio and developing and implementing dilution management strategies. He has a B.S. in finance from Penn State.

David Kennedy 35 Executive director, mergers & acquisitions finance Dell Kennedy leads $62.1 billion Dell’s finance integration and work stream efforts for mergers and acquisitions. He has led the financial integration of six acquisitions for the company, while also managing Dell’s IT finance portfolio. In his 14 years at Dell, he has also headed finance for the global consumer finances unit. Kennedy has a bachelor’s in business studies from the University of Limerick in Ireland.

Alfred Kibe 38 Director, capital planning & pensions funding General Motors Kibe led negotiations on the automaker’s recent $26 billion pension risk transfer to Prudential Insurance, an effort that involved a team of 50. Earlier, as manager for auto finance, he developed GM’s auto finance strategy. Kibe joined GM’s treasurer’s office in 2005. He has a B.S. in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Nairobi and an M.B.A. from Wharton.

Bryan Kimzey 39 VP, investor relations Calpine Corp. Kimzey signed on to head the $6.8 billion energy company’s investor relations last year. He joined Calpine from Progress Energy, where he worked in investor relations, treasury and strategic planning. Earlier, he worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and began his career at Arthur Andersen. Kimzey has a B.S. in business administration and a master’s in accounting from University of North Carolina.

Annona Loughnane 39 Senior director, worldwide credit services Microsoft Loughnane plays a key role in managing Microsoft’s global accounts receivable portfolio. She was named director of credit for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2005 and moved to the U.S. in 2010 when she took over operational management of the global organization. Prior to joining Microsoft 10 years ago, she worked at Modus Media. Loughnane has a B.A. in European business from the University of Ulster.

Russell Lynch 39 Controller & VP Energen Lynch played a key role in the diversified energy company’s bond issuances in 2011 and its inaugural $1 billion credit facility in 2010. He was named controller at Energen, which had $1.5 billion in 2011 revenue, in 2009 after joining the company in 2001 in internal audit. Earlier, he was a senior auditor at Ernst & Young. Lynch has a B.S. in business administration and an M.S. in accounting from Auburn University.

Noel Marsden 38 Treasurer & VP BrightPoint, a unit of Ingram Micro At BrightPoint, a $5.2 billion distributor of mobile phones acquired by Ingram Micro this year, Marsden established a strategic development function, directed the financial integration for nine acquisitions and expanded the roster of the company’s credit providers. Earlier, he was treasurer at Aearo Technologies, a division of 3M. Marsden has a B.S. in computer engineering from Michigan State and an M.B.A. from Purdue University.

Fazal Merchant 39 Treasurer & SVP DirecTV Merchant signed on as treasurer of DirecTV, the $27.2 billion provider of digital TV service, earlier this year from Royal Bank of Scotland. Earlier, he worked in investment banking at Barclays Capital and spent nine years in treasury and finance positions at Ford Motor in the U.S. and Europe. Merchant has a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas and an M.B.A. from Indiana University.

Andy Milevoj 38 VP, investor relations Barnes & Noble Milevoj has worked on a number of transactions at Barnes & Noble, including the $486 million initial public offering of Barnes & Noble.com, the company’s acquisition and subsequent spin-off of GameStop, and a $300 million convertible notes offering. Milevoj has worked in investor relations since joining the $7.1 billion bookseller in 1998 and was named to his current position earlier this year. He has a B.S. in finance from St. John’s University.

Alexandra Neely 34 Senior director, risk & liquidity Hilton Worldwide Neely oversees the treasury team responsible for forecasting the hotel chain’s global cash flow and managing its liquidity. She also manages Hilton Worldwide’s foreign exchange and interest rate hedging and credit risk monitoring programs. Prior to joining Hilton in 2010, she worked in finance at Constellation Energy. Neely has a B.A. in economics from Wellesley and an M.B.A. from Wharton.

Mark Okerstrom 39 CFO & EVP Expedia Okerstrom has led more than 20 acquisitions and divestitures for the $3.5 billion online travel company, including the spin-off of TripAdvisor. He has also spearheaded initiatives such as restructuring the search engine marketing operations. Earlier, he worked at Bain & Co., UBS and the law firm of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. Okerstrom has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a J.D. from the University of British Columbia.

Colleen Ostrowski 39 Treasurer & VP, investor relations ITT When $12 billion ITT spun off its defense and water businesses in 2011, Ostrowski led the treasury team that worked to ensure each company was positioned for success as a standalone. Prior to joining ITT in 2010, Ostrowski spent 10 years in finance and treasury at Pfizer, where her final position was senior director of treasury pension investments and finance. She has a B.S. in international business from Juniata College and an M.B.A. from Penn State.

Jeffrey Plante 35 Staff VP, finance WellPoint Plante is responsible for financial and strategic planning for the $60.7 billion health benefits company’s national accounts business, which covers more than 12 million people. Earlier, as finance lead for two of the company’s state plans, he oversaw growth in operating gains. Prior to joining WellPoint in 2006, Plante was a senior financial analyst at Raytheon. He has a B.S. in business administration and an M.B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.

Devina Rankin 37 Treasurer & VP Waste Management Rankin has managed four capital market transactions that raised $2 billion for $13.4 billion Waste Management, executed a $2 billion revolving credit facility, and implemented improvements in cash and interest-expense forecasting. Prior to joining the company 10 years ago, she was a senior auditor at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. Rankin has a B.B.A. and an M.S. in accounting from Texas A&M University.

Pieter Roeloffs 35 Head of M&A & VP Wolters Kluwer Since joining the $4.5 billion global information services company in 2006, Roeloffs has executed more than 90 acquisitions and divestitures for Wolters Kluwer in Europe and Asia. He joined the company in 2006 after working in business development at Philips and in the corporate finance practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Roeloffs has a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. in financial management from Erasmus University.

Petra Rosenauer 39 Senior director treasury & head of cash management Flextronics International Vienna-based Rosenauer manages the $29 billion contract manufacturer’s liquidity in Europe and has set up cash pooling comprising 75 entities that covers most of Europe. With her team, she is responsible for meeting tight cash concentration targets. Prior to joining Flextronics, Rosenauer worked in finance at Western Union. She has a master’s degree in social and economic science from Vienna Business University.

Michelle Scheer 38 VP, finance Thomson Reuters As head of finance and operations for Thomson Reuters’ corporate tax business, Scheer has driven revenue growth and increased the unit’s profit margin. Earlier, as assistant treasurer, she led the development of a foreign exchange risk management strategy. Scheer joined Thomson Reuters in 2009 after working in the treasurer’s office at General Motors. She has a B.S. in mathematics from MIT and an M.B.A. in finance from Wharton.

Ravi Varma 31 VP, global portfolio analysis & strategy oversight American Express As head of a critical function in the risk management unit of $32.3 billion American Express, Varma has led efforts to assess emerging risks and work out policies and product changes to address them. He started his career as an analyst at Arthur Andersen. Varma has a B.A. in economics from the University of Delhi and an M.S. in quantitative economics from Indian Statistical Institute.

Emily Waldorf 35 Director, corporate development Campbell Soup Co. As head of M&A and business development for the $7.7 billion food company, Waldorf led the due diligence and valuation efforts for Campbell’s $1.55 billion acquisition of Bolthouse Farms, which involved 20 work streams and a team of 74. Waldorf has worked for Discovery Communications, the FBI, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T. She has a B.S. in finance from Penn State and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

David Webb 37 Director, financial strategy Ford Motor As director of financial strategy for the $136.3 billion automaker, Webb has led development of Ford Credit’s capital and funding strategies. He’s in charge of the company’s efforts around financial regulatory reform worldwide and led development of an innovative fixed-income security, the Ford Upgrade Exchange Linked Notes. Webb has a B.A. in economics from Wheaton College and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Michigan.

Christopher Winfrey 37 CFO & EVP Charter Communications At the $7.2 billion cable operator, Winfrey not only directs all of the financial functions but also has responsibility for the areas of supply chain management, revenue assurance and business intelligence. Prior to joining Charter in 2010, he was CFO at Unitymedia in Germany. Winfrey has also worked at Cablecom and NTL Europe. He has a B.S. in accounting and an M.B.A. from the University of Florida.

Thomas Wittman 38 Managing director FedEx Express Wittmann oversees financial planning and support for the airline division of FedEx Express. He and his team play a key role in the company’s management of its fleet of aircraft, such as the decision to acquire 767s to retire aging MD10s and the introduction of the Boeing 777F. He joined FedEx Express in 1998 as an associate financial analyst. Wittman has a B.B.A. and an M.S. in economics from the University of Mississippi.

Vienna Wong 35 Senior director, corporate mergers & acquisitions PepsiCo Wong leads the execution of strategic activities for $66.5 billion PepsiCo. She has completed three transactions since joining the company in 2010, including the acquisition of Mabel, Brazil’s leading maker of cookies, crackers and snacks. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Wong was an investment banker at JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. She has a B.S. in finance and accounting from Wharton.

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